In the field of electrical utility service, it is known that consumption of electrical power occurs at different times of the day in varying amounts and that most electrical usage is during the late afternoon and evening hours. Consumption of electricity is commonly measured by means of a meter installed at the consumer's premises, and the electrical or utility companies employ personnel to make periodic readings of the meters for purposes of billing the individual customers or for otherwise monitoring consumption of the supplied commodity.
Within recent years, this approach and arrangement has been somewhat modernized by use of meter apparatus and/or systems which are capable of providing digital or other like encoded outputs of the readings at a meter installation and at selected times of the day. The data provided by the meters may be transmitted to a central location such as offices of the utility furnishing the commodity and thereby eliminating the need for direct observation of the meter by utility personnel on the customer's premises.
The form of transmission of the data or information may be accomplished in several ways including existing power network lines, telephone communication lines, or like systems for carrying the information from the meter to a central location. While the several ways and means for gathering the consumption data or information at the meters and the transmitting of such data or information to a central facility have utilized the above methods of collection and transmission, it is seen that improved reading and encoding means permit better ways and means for gathering and for conveying the information.
Representative documentation relating to readings of commodity consumption and relaying of such readings to a central location include U.S. Pat. No. 3,312,964, issued to N. L. Kahn et al. on Apr. 4, 1967, which discloses a meter encoder-transmitter with an encoder assembly and an arrangement for transmitting information from a metering instrument.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,788, issued to S. R. Calabro et al. on Nov. 5, 1974, discloses a polydecade decimal-to-digital encoder utilizing a light source and appropriate masks to provide a plurality of point light sources which register with an array of diodes. A plurality of encoding wheels having slotted segments arranged in concentric tracks are positioned to enable occlusion of incident light on photosensors in accordance with the angular position of the various encoding wheels.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,846,789, issued to W. R. Germer et al. on Nov. 5, 1974, discloses a remote reading register with error detecting capability and which includes an optical encoding mechanism for encoding the angular position of each shaft of the register in a six-bit digital code and is capable of resolving ambiguity in formulating an encoded message and also capable of detecting transmission of erroneous encoded messages.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,898,649, issued to D. C. Beck on Aug. 5, 1975, discloses an encoder device for converting the analog value of a rotatable shaft for use with polydecade consumption or usage meters and to transmit digital information for transmission to a utilization point. Each encoding wheel of the register is divided into sectors and the rotational positions of each wheel are determined by optically reading the tracks of coding.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,842, issued to S. R. Calabro et al. on Aug. 19, 1975, discloses a remote automatic meter reading and control system having a plurality of meters and means for translating or encoding the meter readings along with transmitting the data on a carrier to a central control station.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,454, issued to C. Cain et al. on Feb. 8, 1977, discloses apparatus for remotely determining the angular orientation speed and/or direction of rotation of a rotating member and wherein a rotating electric field along with a sensing or reading device detects variations in the field and creates an output dependent upon the angular orientation of the rotating member. A transducer unit indicates the hand position of a meter dial at any particular time in a demand metering application.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,037,219, issued to A. M. Lewis on July 19, 1977, discloses a meter dial encoder for remote meter reading which converts angular dial pointer shaft positions by means of a single track code pattern with binary coded arcuate sectors rotated by the shaft. The pattern is rotated adjacent a pattern-sensing assembly including a single circular row of sensing positions with associated sensors for producing a multiple bit binary code signal in suitable form for telemetering the meter reading to a remote location.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,181, issued to A. P. Bogacki et al. on Jan. 16, 1979, discloses a remote automatic utility meter reading system comprising a computer for transmitting commands having address portions and a function code portion, addressable control units, and a plurality of transponder units which include a meter having an encoder for generating data signals representative of a commodity reading measured by the meter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,720, issued to A. P. Bogacki on July 17, 1979, discloses a remote automatic utility meter reading system comprising register means, a meter including an encoder capable of generating data signals representative of the meter reading, addressable storage means for storing the reading, and first and second address recognition means responsive to commands received by the register means.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,897, issued to R. G. Farnsworth on Apr. 28, 1981, discloses a self-contained remotely readable register encoder capable of providing timing and meter data signals and uses an external power source to energize the encoder and the circuitry. A scanning and timing disk provides timing and data light pulses to photosensors and a circuit board includes timing and data pulse generator circuitry to the output connector.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,251, issued to P. B. Robinson et al. on Feb. 9, 1982, discloses a remote automatic utility monitoring and control system including a terminal unit having means for receiving a command which includes an action portion and a function code portion, and decode means responsive to the received command when recognizing first and second addresses.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,342,908, issued to T. Henningsen et al. on Aug. 3, 1982, discloses a light distribution system for optical encoders having an array of photosensitive sensors and including a light guide plate along with light input couplers and output couplers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,415,853, issued to B. M. Fisher on Nov. 15, 1983, discloses a monitoring device and method for accurately determining and recording present demand of electrical energy consumed over a predetermined time period and which includes an adjustable reflective scanner or sensor mounted exterior of an electric meter for sensing and determining the speed of the rotating disk of the meter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,332, issued to T. D. Wason on Feb. 21, 1984, discloses apparatus for remotely determining the angular position speed and/or direction of rotation of a rotating member by using a series of square wave input signals.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,434, issued to T. D. Wason on Mar. 20, 1984, discloses a data bus in parallel or serial form for sequential use with a series of data communication devices.
And, U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,764, issued to T. H. York et al. on Mar. 27, 1984, discloses dual mode meter reading apparatus wherein a remote reading system includes a dial register encoder and a pulse encoder both coupled to the same rotary disk of an induction kilowatthour meter.